Senior Congress leader Milind Deora on Wednesday hit out at alliance partner Shiv Sena, indicating further rift in Maha Vikas Aghadi. Describing the move of delimitation of wards in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) as “unconstitutional, undemocratic and against coalition religion”, he has now written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to do away with these delimitations completely.
Terming Shiv Sena’s intention as “malicious”, he said Congress will fight till the end for it. Shiv Sena’s open criticism comes a day after the Maharashtra Congress termed the Uddhav Thackeray-led party’s decision to support Draupadi Murmu for the presidency as “bottomless”.
“Mumbai Municipal Corporation is one of the richest civic bodies in the country. But look at the situation in Mumbai for the time being. There are potholes, there is a flood. Every Mumbaikar wants good governance. But many people don’t even know who their mayor is. Everyone deserves a better Mumbai,” he said in an exclusive interview with CNN-News18.
Deora alleged that the delimitation process for the BMC (also known as the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai or MCGM) was done only to benefit a particular party. “We are raising this issue time and again. We have also gone to court regarding this. This party has done this only to serve their interests.” When asked which party he was referring to, he said it was Shiv Sena.
“Shiv Sena worked against its alliance dharma. Wards have been manipulated to benefit one party. Of course the intention is malicious,” Deora said.
In his letter to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, he wrote, “In the case of the Congress party, the MCGM maliciously redrawn the boundaries of 20 of the 30 wards won by Congress Municipal Councilors in 2017. It appears that the Congress This has been done in order to seriously harm the U.S. to ensure that 21 of the 30 existing Congress councilor wards be reserved for women. Many Congress councilors are challenging these decisions in court. Many believe the process was opaque and adhered to democratic principles and free and fair elections. was against the sentiment.
Asked why the Congress was fighting this battle against its own alliance partner, he said the party should fight for its seat. “We cannot be mute spectators when some coalition inflicts vulgarity on us in the name of religion. My duty is to fight on behalf of Congress. The wards were remodeled to serve only one party. And it needs to be changed. ,
In his letter to Shinde, Deora also wrote, “In order to increase the number of wards from 227 to 236, a new population census must first be conducted. However, MCGM’s delimitation and demarcation exercise 2011 census was also ignored, which I am sure you will agree is unfair and unfair. I would urge you to do away with the existing delimitation, demarcation and reservation of MCGMs and restart the process in a transparent manner. In the interest of fairness this should be done by an independent committee and not by the administrator of the MCGM.
Furthermore, he said, in May 2022, gender reservations were similarly arbitrarily done to ensure that 21 of the 30 existing Congress municipal councilor wards are reserved for women. “Many Congress municipal councilors are appealing these decisions in court. Many believed that the process was opaque and against democratic principles and the spirit of free and fair elections. In order to increase the number of wards from 227 to 236, a new population census must first be conducted. However, the delimitation and demarcation exercise of the MCGM was carried out ignoring the 2011 census, which I am sure you will agree is unfair and unfair,” read the letter.
Terming the entire process of delimitation of wards as opaque, he told CNN-News18 that the Shiv Sena was in power in the BMC for more than three decades. “Don’t do it in an unreasonable manner that suits your interests. Rights of a common Mumbaikar are being snatched away.”
He said that Congress will take this fight on the streets.
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